Lions hit road hoping to turn tide

After an exciting win at UCLA to start the season, the Lions have now lost to straight home games to Middle Tennessee State and Harvard. While neither are awful loses (both teams currently find themselves among the top-25 mid-major programs), it is important for the Lions to get back in the win column. The team left earlier this morning on a flight for Idaho, as it will take on Idaho State tomorrow at 6:05 PT.

It looks like Ashley Hamilton, who injured his foot in Saturday's game against Harvard, will sit out tomorrow's contest. This is a huge blow to the already-struggling Lions offense, who has yet to find a consistent groove this season. Hamilton was by far the Lions MVP through the 2+ games he played in, and the only player that seemed to have the ability to consistently score. Without him and Drew Viney on the court, it puts even more pressure on Anthony Ireland and Jarred DuBois to contribute the bulk of the scoring, both from inside and out.

One bright spot from Saturday's loss was the appearance of Alex Osborne, who was forced to sit out the first two games of the season due to NCAA regulations. In his 13 minutes of play, Osborne went 3-3 from the field, ending the game with six points, one rebound and one block. Hopefully Osborne can continue to show that sort of offensive production tomorrow, when the Lions will really need it.

While tomorrow's game should be an easy win for the Lions, it is exactly the sort of game the program has been known to use in the past. I hope the team doesn't take the brief roadtrip lightly, and can return home for Thanksgiving with a .500 record.

The game can be viewed live online here.